


Daily Life in the Village

by SilenceAndLightning



Series: Just Dick [2]
Category: Injustice: Gods Among Us
Genre: Alternate Universe, Montage, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 15:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20695607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilenceAndLightning/pseuds/SilenceAndLightning
Summary: Dick adjusts to his new life and learns about the world.





	Daily Life in the Village

The flickering light of candles served as a gentle beacon to guide Dick Grayson from his slumber. He sat up and looked around, confused as to where he was.  
  
The soft fur blankets were the trigger for his memories; he shook his head to fight against the flood and stumbled out of the bed, aware of two things: he needed to eat, and he needed to learn about this world.  
  
The door opened into the spacious halls, and Dick wandered them for some time, observing the decorations of the manor and building his theories on the world and the state of the world.  
  
The first theory was the most obvious and easily proven - this was a world with many sentient species besides humans. Combined with the convent, he felt safe assuming he had found himself in another world in the multiverse, though one that was in a medieval age.  
  
His second theory was about the War of Three Gabriella had mentioned. That one was more complex, but Dick had been trained by Batman. The clues were more like fragments. Nicholas had mentioned warlords, orcs, and beastmen. For the time being, it was easiest to assume that the mounted heads were the aforementioned beastmen - he felt safe assuming the various depictions of orcs on his home world were close to the truth.  
  
The 'Three' seemed simple enough. It could be a measurement of time, but that was typically accompanied by a unit of time in such naming, and so he assumed the orcs were the third and the eponymous Three were factions. Humans. Orcs. Beastmen.  
  
His wanderings and his thoughts had brought him to the kitchen, where Gabriella and Nicholas were sitting. He caught a snatch of conversation about happenings at the convent before Gabriella noticed him and rushed to support him to a chair, despite his apparent ease at walking.  
  
"Seventeen," Nicholas grunted. The man was shoveling stew into his mouth while observing Dick.  
  
"Seventeen?" Dick pulled his chair up, and Gabriella brought him a bowl of what seemed an oily fish stew - and by the smell of it, quite spicy.  
  
"Seventeen hours. That's how long you slept." He gulped down another mouthful and jabbed his spoon at several books stacked on the table. "History. Get you up to speed on what you've forgotten."  
  
"Thanks." Dick dragged one of the books over. It was bound in stiff leather and bore no markings except 'History' and a number. A glance at the other books confirmed his thought that the number must be the order. He searched through them for the first book and propped it up in front of him, leafing through the pages while he ate.  
  
While he read, the world changed around him. Nicholas and Gabriella came and went. With each chapter, the light grew brighter, until he closed the first book and Gabriella served him another bowl. From there it grew gloomier with each chapter.  
  
For nearly 18 hours he stayed there, devouring the historical texts with only brief breaks for a bit of exercise and to use the bathroom. Gabriella practically dragged him back to bed when he'd finished the fourth book.  
  
As the days passed, they settled into an easy routine. For three days, he'd study and exercise. On the fourth, Gabriella would visit and he went to the markets with her, carrying her purchases and discovering more books.  
  
His initial theory about the War had been correct, and he started making notes of his study. A map went up on the wall of his bedroom, marked with pin and string and notes tacked to locations. Bruce had taught him that the first things to do in a new locale were to gain knowledge of the environment, locate strategically valuable positions, and learn enough of the customs and culture to fit in.  
  
He adapted with practiced ease, growing a wardrobe and creating an identity for himself as a peasant trying to become a warrior. Most took his lack of knowledge as him simply being uneducated due to his status.  
  
On the fifth, Nicholas took him to the backyard to spar to maintain his fighting prowess. Dick was pleased to find they were evenly matched; Nicholas made the perfect partner to keep his combat ability honed to a razor's edge. Most days saw them ending the session with equal wins and losses.  
  
Nicholas never seemed to desire anything from him as payment. He never requested that Dick do any sort of chores or contribute financially, though he did his best to help where he could, from cooking to cleaning.  
  
It was only a couple of weeks before Dick decided he enjoyed this idyllic existence, though he wanted more. One night, over dinner with Nicholas, he finally explained his past.  
  
The man looked at him and selected his words very carefully. "I've heard of such things before, traveling between worlds, though I've never heard tell of a dead man doing it. Gabriella might know more, but I'll tell you what I think, Grayson. I think you ought to do some work with those fighting skills of yours. There are always caravans looking for protection, or guard work."  
  
From that day, on the sixth and seventh days of the week, Dick took on mercenary work. He never strayed farther than the adjacent towns with a caravan, and it was never very dangerous - mostly hungry, desperate bandits that he fended off with ease. With his new-found income, Dick's room began to fill as he bought a dizzying array of armor and weapons, and then tools to tear them down to rebuild exactly what he desired.  
  
His armor was thin, flexible leather to suit his agility, and it began to resemble his old costume. From the pile of weapons he managed to work out two extending batons, and he took a page from Tim's book by adding end caps that allowed them to screw together into a staff. They were complemented by darts he'd worked into a vague resemblance of his emblem.  
  
It was the seventh day, nearly three months later, that he came home to Nicholas and Gabriella sitting in the den looking rather grim.  
  
"What happened?" Dick asked, coming quickly to their side. Nicholas handed him a letter and he scanned it.  
  
Orcs advancing. Clans united under new chief - sorcerer. King to declare war in one week. Requesting your presence and offering commission - command of a battalion of choice.The flickering light of candles served as a gentle beacon to guide Dick Grayson from his slumber. He sat up and looked around, confused as to where he was.  
  
The soft fur blankets were the trigger for his memories; he shook his head to fight against the flood and stumbled out of the bed, aware of two things: he needed to eat, and he needed to learn about this world.  
  
The door opened into the spacious halls, and Dick wandered them for some time, observing the decorations of the manor and building his theories on the world and the state of the world.  
  
The first theory was the most obvious and easily proven - this was a world with many sentient species besides humans. Combined with the convent, he felt safe assuming he had found himself in another world in the multiverse, though one that was in a medieval age.  
  
His second theory was about the War of Three Gabriella had mentioned. That one was more complex, but Dick had been trained by Batman. The clues were more like fragments. Nicholas had mentioned warlords, orcs, and beastmen. For the time being, it was easiest to assume that the mounted heads were the aforementioned beastmen - he felt safe assuming the various depictions of orcs on his home world were close to the truth.  
  
The 'Three' seemed simple enough. It could be a measurement of time, but that was typically accompanied by a unit of time in such naming, and so he assumed the orcs were the third and the eponymous Three were factions. Humans. Orcs. Beastmen.  
  
His wanderings and his thoughts had brought him to the kitchen, where Gabriella and Nicholas were sitting. He caught a snatch of conversation about happenings at the convent before Gabriella noticed him and rushed to support him to a chair, despite his apparent ease at walking.  
  
"Seventeen," Nicholas grunted. The man was shoveling stew into his mouth while observing Dick.  
  
"Seventeen?" Dick pulled his chair up, and Gabriella brought him a bowl of what seemed an oily fish stew - and by the smell of it, quite spicy.  
  
"Seventeen hours. That's how long you slept." He gulped down another mouthful and jabbed his spoon at several books stacked on the table. "History. Get you up to speed on what you've forgotten."  
  
"Thanks." Dick dragged one of the books over. It was bound in stiff leather and bore no markings except 'History' and a number. A glance at the other books confirmed his thought that the number must be the order. He searched through them for the first book and propped it up in front of him, leafing through the pages while he ate.  
  
While he read, the world changed around him. Nicholas and Gabriella came and went. With each chapter, the light grew brighter, until he closed the first book and Gabriella served him another bowl. From there it grew gloomier with each chapter.  
  
For nearly 18 hours he stayed there, devouring the historical texts with only brief breaks for a bit of exercise and to use the bathroom. Gabriella practically dragged him back to bed when he'd finished the fourth book.  
  
As the days passed, they settled into an easy routine. For three days, he'd study and exercise. On the fourth, Gabriella would visit and he went to the markets with her, carrying her purchases and discovering more books.  
  
His initial theory about the War had been correct, and he started making notes of his study. A map went up on the wall of his bedroom, marked with pin and string and notes tacked to locations. Bruce had taught him that the first things to do in a new locale were to gain knowledge of the environment, locate strategically valuable positions, and learn enough of the customs and culture to fit in.  
  
He adapted with practiced ease, growing a wardrobe and creating an identity for himself as a peasant trying to become a warrior. Most took his lack of knowledge as him simply being uneducated due to his status.  
  
On the fifth, Nicholas took him to the backyard to spar to maintain his fighting prowess. Dick was pleased to find they were evenly matched; Nicholas made the perfect partner to keep his combat ability honed to a razor's edge. Most days saw them ending the session with equal wins and losses.  
  
Nicholas never seemed to desire anything from him as payment. He never requested that Dick do any sort of chores or contribute financially, though he did his best to help where he could, from cooking to cleaning.  
  
It was only a couple of weeks before Dick decided he enjoyed this idyllic existence, though he wanted more. One night, over dinner with Nicholas, he finally explained his past.  
  
The man looked at him and selected his words very carefully. "I've heard of such things before, traveling between worlds, though I've never heard tell of a dead man doing it. Gabriella might know more, but I'll tell you what I think, Grayson. I think you ought to do some work with those fighting skills of yours. There are always caravans looking for protection, or guard work."  
  
From that day, on the sixth and seventh days of the week, Dick took on mercenary work. He never strayed farther than the adjacent towns with a caravan, and it was never very dangerous - mostly hungry, desperate bandits that he fended off with ease. With his new-found income, Dick's room began to fill as he bought a dizzying array of armor and weapons, and then tools to tear them down to rebuild exactly what he desired.  
  
His armor was thin, flexible leather to suit his agility, and it began to resemble his old costume. From the pile of weapons he managed to work out two extending batons, and he took a page from Tim's book by adding end caps that allowed them to screw together into a staff. They were complemented by darts he'd worked into a vague resemblance of his emblem.  
  
It was the seventh day, nearly three months later, that he came home to Nicholas and Gabriella sitting in the den looking rather grim.  
  
"What happened?" Dick asked, coming quickly to their side. Nicholas handed him a letter and he scanned it.  
  
_Orcs advancing. Clans united under new chief - sorcerer. King to declare war in one week. Requesting your presence and offering commission - command of a battalion of choice._  
  
"Are you going?" Dick knew the answer but he had to ask regardless, and he already knew both the question and the answer that would follow.  
  
"Aye," Nicholas grunted as he stood to confront Dick fully. "Are you?"  
  
He nodded. He and Nicholas had grown close, and there was no chance he'd allow the man to go alone. "When do we leave?"  
  
"The ride will take three days. We'll leave in two."  
  
"I'm going with you." Ordinarily Gabriella was soft-spoken — save when she had to nurse someone — but this was as assertive as Dick had ever heard her. Both men turned to her, both opened their mouths, but the conviction was written so plainly on her face that neither made the first attempt to dissuade her.  
  
Dick looked at the letter again. A thick pit of anxiety was growing in his stomach. He had only just escaped a war, and now he was diving right back into one. It had never been a question of whether he would, the morals instilled in him by Bruce had made sure of that; that still didn't make the decision, and the full knowledge of what he had just involved himself in, any easier.  
  
"Are you going?" Dick knew the answer but he had to ask regardless, and he already knew both the question and the answer that would follow.  
  
"Aye," Nicholas grunted as he stood to confront Dick fully. "Are you?"  
  
He nodded. He and Nicholas had grown close, and there was no chance he'd allow the man to go alone. "When do we leave?"  
  
"The ride'll take three days. We'll leave in two."  
  
"I'm going with you." Ordinarily Gabriella was soft-spoken — save when she had to nurse someone — but this was as assertive as Dick had ever heard her. Both men turned to her, both opened their mouths, but the conviction was written so plainly on her face that neither made the first attempt to dissuade her.  
  
Dick looked at the letter again. A thick pit of anxiety was growing in his stomach. He had only just escaped a war, and now he was diving right back into one. It had never been a question of whether he would, the morals instilled in him by Bruce had made sure of that; that still didn't make the decision, and the full knowledge of what he had just involved himself in, any easier.


End file.
